Apple iOS 27’s most powerful on-device AI comes with a limitation: Is your device supported?

Apple hosted its much-awaited Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2026 last night. As expected, AI was one of the biggest talking points of the event. While many of the new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 27 will work on supported devices, the company’s most powerful on-device AI model comes with stricter hardware requirements. This means not every device that supports Apple Intelligence will be able to access the most advanced AI experiences available in iOS 27.

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Apple’s most capable on-device AI model requires a minimum of 12GB of unified memory to run, reports MacRumors. Because of this higher requirement, the standard iPhone 17 is not compatible with the new AI model. The device ships with 8GB of memory, which falls short of the 12GB requirement.

Also read: Apple iOS 27 developer beta is here: How to download, features and eligible devices 

Which devices are supported?

To use Apple’s most powerful on-device AI model, users will need one of the following devices:

• iPhone Air
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPad models powered by the M4 chip or newer with at least 12GB of unified memory
• Mac models powered by the M3 chip or newer with at least 12GB of unified memory
• Apple Vision Pro equipped with the M5 chip

Devices that do not meet these memory requirements will still be able to use many Apple Intelligence features available in iOS 27, but they will miss out on the most advanced on-device AI capabilities.

According to Apple’s press release, the new model enables features including expressive voices and more advanced dictation.

Also read: Apple unveils Siri AI at WWDC 2026: Smarter assistant can understand your screen, apps and personal context  

Apple iOS 27 eligible devices

Meanwhile, Apple’s iOS 27 update will be compatible with the following iPhones:

• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 12 series
• iPhone 13 series
• iPhone 14 series
• iPhone 15 series
• iPhone 16 series
• iPhone 17 series

Also read: WWDC 2026 recap: iOS 27, macOS Golden Gate, Siri AI and everything Apple announced

Ayushi Jain

Ayushi works as Chief Copy Editor at Digit, covering everything from breaking tech news to in-depth smartphone reviews. Prior to Digit, she was part of the editorial team at IANS. View Full Profile